We tried Texas de Brazil's all-you-can-eat meat dinner for $55 a person. The steak house wowed us, but we'd do things differently next time.

• I tried Texas de Brazil, an upscale Brazilian steak house, for a date night with my husband.
• I thought the $55 flat-rate meal was worth it, and I'd like to go back.

Texas de Brazil is a Brazilian steak-house chain across the US as well as parts of Latin America and Asia.

The chain is known for its $55, flat-rate dining experience with all-you-can-eat meats and sides.

After wanting to try the upscale chain for years, my husband and I finally went for dinner.

The dining room was large, and it had a festive ambiance.

The nearest location is in our mall. But once we were inside, the restaurant had a distinct ambiance.

The lighting was dim enough to feel romantic but not so dim you couldn't see what you were doing. I felt a bit like I was on vacation — the vibe was similar to that of restaurants I've eaten at in high-end resorts.

It was certainly a change from my day-to-day meals.

We had a reservation and were seated right away.

The restaurant was pretty busy on a rainy Saturday night, so I was grateful I made a reservation.

We were seated at a relatively private table. It was off to itself and next to a mirror, so we had a view of the restaurant's festive decor no matter where we looked.

After meeting our server and ordering drinks, we headed straight to the salad bar.

Our server introduced herself, took our drink order, and told us how the restaurant works.

We splurged on a bottle of wine, which pushed our per-person cost to around $100 as drinks aren't included in the flat rate.

With the $55 meal, we could fill our plates at the salad bar, then people would be walking around with a variety of meats that were slow-roasted over an open flame.

The buffet was impressively large, with plenty of salad fixings and vegetables like asparagus and green beans. But my favorite dish was the pineapple carpaccio (thinly sliced raw meat).

Across from the salad bar was a selection of hot dishes.

The salad-bar area also featured a small selection of hot items, which included rice, Brazilian black beans, lobster bisque, sautéed mushrooms, and potatoes au gratin.

The buffet dishes perfectly accompanied the meats, in my opinion, and the servers also brought Brazilian cheese bread, mashed potatoes, and sweet fried bananas right to our table.

We were given specific tools to grab the restaurant’s signature meats.

When we sat down, we were given a card that was green on one side and red on the other. This indicated whether we wanted more meat at any given moment.

We were also given tongs, which we used to grab the meat off the skewers as it was being carved.

There were plenty of meat options, and I loved all of them.

When our cards were green, the meat servers were really attentive. It seemed like we had a new choice every few minutes.

They announced what we were being offered each time, but it was a little hard to keep track of everything on our plates. Luckily, we were happy with every bite — even if we didn't know exactly what to call it.

Our main server checked in midway through our meal to see if there were any meats we hadn't gotten to. I'd been hoping to try the Brazilian sausage and hadn't been offered any yet, so her help was appreciated.

We didn't save room for dessert.

We skipped dessert — we simply didn't have any room. But I caught a glimpse of a tray displaying all the offerings.

Notably, like the drinks, dessert isn't included in the $55 flat rate.

I loved the experience, but we learned some lessons for next time.

We ended up spending about $200 for our meal, including the wine, tax, and tip.

Ultimately, I thought the experience was worth it. The $55 flat-rate dinner offered a lot of food, and days after the experience, I'm still thinking about the char on the meat.

But looking back, I can see we made a few mistakes as first-time diners.

The restaurant has a high-end vibe, so I had my mind set on "special night out" mode. I was subconsciously expecting the kind of evening where you have a drink and enjoy yourself before the food arrives.

But with a salad bar beckoning, we were off to the races just minutes after being seated, and we started eating before our wine even arrived — making everything feel a bit rushed.

At first, we were also filling up too quickly. Thankfully, we clocked our error early enough to correct it and slowed ourselves down.

Next time, I'll get a drink at the bar before sitting down to dinner, to ease into the meal. And, once I'm seated, I'll settle in and take my time.